Cashbox



Sept. 19, 1950 G. D. WIEPERT 2,522,768

CASI-XBOX Filed Jan. 30, .1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Zi zu ,/18 g/ 2 zu es zo /m Sept. 19, 1950 s, D. WIEPERT 2,532,768

cAsHBox Filed Jan. so, 1947 2 sheets-sheet 2 /WIM+%4 Patented Sept. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE oAsHox George D. Wiepert, Branford, Conn., assignor to The Merriam Manufacturing Company, Durham, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application January 3'0, 1947, Serial No. 725,312

(Cl. 20G-0.81)

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates in general to receptacles and more especially to a special receptacle of the type adapted to hold money.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved cash-box.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cash-box having a superior construction and arrangement of parts whereby coins and bills may be kept in the box in segregated relationship and may be dispensed from the box with facility and dispatch.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a superior cash-box wherein coins of different value are kept in acompartmented tray nested normally in the upper` part of the box While paper money of diilerent denominations is held in a compartmented member beneath the tray so that when the tray is removed from the box, both the coins and paper money are readily available.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cash-box having a nested coin-tray and superior tray-supporting means so constructed that paper money of diierent denominations may be kept in segregated compartments between the tray-supporting means and the In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for` illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved cash-box of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the"f cash-box of Fig. vl with the cover open;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the cash-box on its longitudinal center line;

Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation` of the cashbox, is shown and described. The cash-box `.15 box on section line 4--4 of Fig. 2, the coin-tray 2 ID comprises a substantially-rectangular body I I having a cover I2 hinged thereto along its upper edge, both the body and cover of the `box being `made of a suitable material such as thin sheet steel or the like.

The body II of the box comprises a substantially-rectangular bottom I3 and substantiallyrectangular side and end walls I4 and I5 respectively, the side and end walls of t-he boxbody being of substantially uniform height and formed with a continuous offset flange or rim IS at their upper edges to provide a substantially-square shoulder II circumscribing the rim of the box. The shoulder I'I is adapted to constitute supporting-means for the lower edges of the sides I8 and ends Il! of the cover I2 when `the latter is in its closed position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the sides and ends of the cover depending at substantially right angles to the top 20 of thecover. Secured to the top 20 of the cover at substantially its geometrical center is a handle 2| comprising a substantially-rectangular wire frame, the long side 22 of which constitutes a hinge-element which is held down on the top 2B of the cover substantially coincident with the longitudinal axis thereof by means of a suitable hinge-plate 23 which straddles the hinge-element 22 of the handle 2l and is welded or otherwise secured to the cover. The friction-tof the hinge-element 22 beneath the hinge-plate 23 is relatively tight so that the handle will remain in any given position as, for example, in a substantially-horizontal position ush with the top of the box, in a substantiallyvertical position, or in a position intermediate its horizontal and vertical positions. In this connection, it will be noted on reference to Fig. 4, that the length of the short sides 24 of the handle 2I is such that when the cover has been swung to its open position and the handle is at substantially right angles to the top 2l) thereof, the handle is adapted to support the cover in a substantially-horizontal plane, provided that the lower end of the handle may engage a supporting-surface lying in the horizontal plane of the bottom I3 of the box. Thus, when the cover is open and supported in a substantiallyhorizontal plane by the handle 2i, as shown in Fig. 4, the inverted cover constitutes a shallow receptacle which is adapted to support the cointray of the cash-box, as shown in Fig. 5 and as hereinafter described.

The coin-tray is indicated generally at 25 and comprises a substantially-rectangularI relativelyshallow box, the sides 25 .and ends 21 of which are of a uniform height which is little more than` one-half the height of the corresponding sides I4 and ends I5 of the cash-box I0. Moreover, the length and width of the coin-tray are somewhat less than the corresponding length and width of the offset-rim portion I3 of the cash-box I so that the tray 25 may nest in the upper part of the box, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and also in the cover when the latter is in its open inverted position. Generally speaking, the tray 25 has a double bottom, the outer bottom 28 comprising a substantially-flat rectangular plate from the perimeter of which the sides 26 and ends 2'I respectively of the tray are bent up at substantial right angles to form its substantially-rectangular box-like structure. The inner bottom 29 of the tray is a thin sheet of metal or equivalent material substantially rectangular in shape having its two longitudinal sides 30 pinched over the corresponding top edges of the longitudinal sides 23 of the tray, as shown in Fig. 4. The portion of the inner bottom 29 intermediate its upper longitudinal edges 30 curves downwardly in a concave cylindrical A.

surface of revolution. This inner :concave bottom 29 of the tray is adapted to be divided into a plurality of compartments by transverse partitions 3| which extend from one longitudinal side wall 2B of the tray to the opposite side wall and at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tray. In the present embodiment, four of these partitions 3i are used to divide the tray into five separate compartments.

When used as a cash-box, these compartments" with its rim extending above the upper edgeof the offset-flange IIS of the box, the vertical distance between the rim of the tray and the shoulder Ii of the cash-box is being slightly less than the height of the sides I8 of the cover, so that when the latter is `.closed on the box, there will,-

be some clearance between the rim of the tray and the top 20 of the cover, as shown clearly in Fig. 3.

The coin-tray supporting-means is indicated generally at 32 and as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, comprises a bridge structure embodying a fiat substantially-rectangular center-plate 33 having two longitudinal side-plates or aprons 34, the upper edges of which are formed integrally with the respective longitudinal edges of the centerplate 33 and extend downwardly at an angle to the horizontal plane thereof. The length of the center-plate 33 ,and its respective aprons 311 is slightly less than the over-all length of the cash-box, as indicated in Fig. 3, While the width of the center-plate 33 is substantially one-half the width of the cash-box. Referring to Fig. 4, the acute angle qb which each apron 34 makes with respect to the center-plate 33 of the supporting-member is suchk that the lower longitudinal edge of each apron is adapted to wedge in the corresponding right-angle bend at the intersection of each longitudinal edge of the box-bottom with its adjacent side wall I4. In the present embodiment each angle p equals substantially 35. In accordance with this construction, the center-plate 33 of the tray-supporting bridge structure 32 is held in verticallyspaced relationship above the bottom I3 of the the underside of the center-plate 33 and the bottom I3 of the :cash-box. Referring to Figs. 3, 5 and 6, the center-plate 33 of the bridge structure 32 is provided with a plurality of upstanding substantially-vertical ns 36, each comprising a substantially-rectangular sheet of metal or equivalent material formed integrally or otherwise secured to the center-plate 33 at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof. In the -preferred embodiment, three of these ns are shown which divide the center-plate into four parts, each of substantially equal width. All of the ns 36 are of an identical height 4which is such that when thei coin-tray is nested in the upper part of the cash-box IU, with its outer bottom` 28 resting on the upper edges of the ns 36, a recess 31 of appreciable height will be formed between the outer bottom 28 of the tray and the top of the center-plate 33, this recess being divided into four compartments 3B by the three fins 36, as indicated clearly in Fig. 3. Each of these compartments is adapted to support paper' money as, for example, one, five, ten and twenty dollar bills.

It should be pointed out that the invention features a bridge-like coin-tray supportingmember 32 having downwardly-sloping sides or aprons .34 which permit the opposite ends of the bills to hang down over the corresponding edges of the center-plate 33, so that the effective length of the bills is shortened, thereby accomplishing an economy in the manufacture of the box-body, the width of which is less than the linear length of a bill.

It will be manifest from the foregoing description that the improved cash-box of this invention is adapted to hold several species of coins in the coin-tray, several denominations of bills beneath the coin-tray and above the bottom of the box, and rolls of coins and additional bills in the recess between the bottom of the box and the underside of the tray-supporting member. When the box is in use, the cover' is adapted to be swung open into the position shown in Fig. 5, and the coin-tray removed from the box and placed in the inverted cover, the latter being supported, as described above, by the handle in a substantially-horizontal position. With the coin-tray supported in the cover, the bills in the compartments of the tray-supporting member of the cash-box are uncovered and readily available. In the event additional coins or bills are desired, it is only necessary to pull the traym supporting member up out of the body of the cash-box to obtain the additional coins or bills stored in the recess beneath the tray-supporting member. It will be clear that coins of dii-ferent values and paper money of various denominations are maintained in lsegregated relationship such that the money may be cached in or dispensedfrom the box with facility and dispatch.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and thepresent embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

In a receptacle of the class described, the combination including a box-body; a tray arranged to nest in the upper part of said. box-- body; and a, tray-supporting member comprising thereof to removably support said plate in said box-body in vertically-spaced relationship to` the bottom thereof, and fins formed .on the top of said plate, said fins being substantially equal in length to the width of said plate and extending transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof, said fins projecting upwardly from thel top of said plate so as to support the underside of said tray and to partition the recess between the top of said plate and the underside of said tray into separate compartments.

GEORGE D. WIEPERT.

r' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date Re. 18,245 oeye Nov. 10, 1931 1,607,024 Thomson Nev. 16, 1926 1,624,714 Bullock Apr. 12, 1927 1,692,231 Thompson Nov. 20, 1928 15 1,736,574 Binks Nov. 19', 1929' 2,242,059 De Witt May 13, 1941 2,330,671 Boh et al. Sept. 28, 1943 

